The Government Accountability Office has warned that the Department of Defense is missing opportunities to bill private companies that use federal sites to launch satellites into space.
In a report published Monday, the congressional watchdog revealed that the Pentagon does not have clear cost collection and reimbursement procedures for supporting commercial launch needs.
The DOD also does not have sufficient commercial scheduling information needed to manage payload processing, which refers to the process of integrating payloads into the launch vehicle to prepare for the mission. The absence of commercial scheduling information could impact coordination and affect payload processing for government missions.
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Billing Commercial Companies for Using Federal Launch Sites
The report pointed out that commercial launches have “more than quadrupled since 2021,” increasing demand and putting a strain on government launch infrastructures, called ranges, that support space missions.
To support the growing volume of commercial and military launches, the DOD plans to spend over $18 billion in the next five years to improve ranges.
By billing commercial companies that use ranges, the government can get reimbursements for the costs of maintaining, operating, upgrading and modernizing space-related facilities.
GAO Recommendations for DOD
The congressional watchdog urged the U.S. Space Force to collaborate with the under secretary of defense comptroller to improve guidance on direct and indirect cost collection and reimbursement for support at ranges.
GAO also advised Space Force to solicit information on commercial payload processing schedules to improve capacity and coordination.
The DOD concurred with all recommendations.
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